Geographical and environmental epidemiology
Subtitle: methods for small-area studies
By: edited by P. Elliott ... [et al.].
Contributors: Elliott, P.; World Health Organization. Regional Office for Europe.
Series: Oxford medical publications
Publisher: published on behalf of the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe by POxford University Press
Published: 1992
Place of publication: Oxford; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 382
Subjects: Medical geography.; Epidemiology.; Environmental Exposure -- congresses.; Environmental Health -- congresses.; Epidemiologic Methods -- congresses.
Description: This book addresses both the theoretical and practical issues which arise when describing the geographical distribution of disease and investigating apparent disease clusters. Requirements in terms of population data, disease incidence and mortality are considered and related to the scale at which a study is being carried out. Statistical methods are reviewed for large scale correlation studies, intermediate scale smoothing exercises, and small scale clustering investigations, and the problems of interpretation are discussed. Problems of measuring environmental exposures at different scales are also reviewed. These issues are then related to current practice via a comprehensive set of case studies which include a large correlation study in China, clustering of asthma attacks, the Sellafield-leukemia cluster, environmental clusters of mesothelioma in Turkey, the investigation of disease following the industrial accident at Sevesco, and a multi-source study of cancer incidence around incinerators.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.